Jason Garrett is coaching for his job, even if Jerry Jones says he isn't

Well, that settles it.In a joint press conference that both opened Cowboys training camp and could double as a backdrop for a buddy cop sitcom, owner Jerry Jones announced for a second straight year that his head coach’s job is not on the line.

That’s hard to believe.

Jones told reporters Wednesday that 2014 was not a “make or break” year for Garrett, whose Cowboys teams have finished 8-8 in each of his three full seasons as head coach, missing the playoffs each time with losses in “win and you’re in” Week 17 games.

Despite his affection for Garrett, who has been on the Cowboys staff since 2007 and spent seven seasons in Dallas as a player, Jones has let his head coach enter into the final year of his contract without an extension or talks of one.

And while many of the Cowboys’ shortcomings over the past few years can be attributed to front office decisions overseen by the owner/general manager, Garrett’s teams haven’t been able to deliver in must-win games at the end of the season.

Now he enters the year with a team that has already lost star linebacker Sean Lee for the season to a knee injury and is trying to retool without Demarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher and a much younger cast of players.

“We both know where our expectations are and when it’s looking good and when it’s looking dire,” Jones said. “And I don’t expect it to be the latter.”

Jones is too savvy to make a headline-generating statement in July that his coach will be replaced if he doesn’t make the playoffs. Those are understood job requirements for all NFL coaches at some point anyway.

But with no extension in the works, a billion-dollar stadium that has hosted both a Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four but only one home playoff game, and a 34-year-old quarterback with a $108 million contract, there’s likely no way that Jones lets another .500 season or worse happen without making major changes.More of today’s big winners:Jay Harris: The SportsCenter anchor won a new car after sinking a hole-in-one at a Las Vegas golf tournament.

Jason Garrett is coaching for his job, even if Jerry Jones says he isn't

Jerry Jones said Wednesday that it is not a ‘make or break’ season for his head coach.

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